Bryan Adams grew up in Vancouver when he was 15 when he decided to play guitar and dropped out of school.
Then he went a step further and asked his mom to buy a new piano with the $1,000 he had saved for his higher education so he could learn how to play it.
His future is a risky decision at best, but as he stood on stage in front of a sold-out Prospera Place in Kelowna on Friday night, he talked about standing there at 63 and embracing A surreal experience of one’s love and affection. The audience that grew up with his music led him to a life of fame and fortune that may have been beyond his wildest teenage dreams.
“I think I made the right decision,” he said with a smile.
Adams is wrapping up a trans-Canada tour that began in Prince Edward Island in August, with his final concert in Vancouver on Saturday night.
But for his Okanagan Google fans, who had the chance to see him in concert many times during his career, he just happened to give them a memorable performance on Memorial Day.
From the opening track Kick Ass, Adams emptied out his catalog of hits from the past 40+ years – Somebody, can’t stop this thing we started, heaven, it’s just love, the only thing that looks good to me is you, 18, 69 Summer, when you left, did you really love a woman? , towards you.
He asked the audience to pick a song for him to sing to him, adding a new wrinkle to the interaction with fans, leading him to perform Did You Really Love a Woman? And cut like a knife.
Adams is supported by a five-piece band led by longtime lead guitarist Keith Scott, and a giant video screen and a floating balloon car hovering above the crowd represent the characteristic elements of the video for his latest single, An old convertible. Happy It Hurts is from the album of the same name.
He ended the night with his signature encore “Straight From The Heart,” one of his first songs written since 1978.
“I don’t remember anything else from that year, but I did write the song,” he said.
With Friday being Memorial Day, Adams also pulled a song from his Into The Fire album called Remembrance Day to speak out to veterans, adding that he believes war will never solve the global problems we face today.
“War is never the answer,” he said.